Nikko Jenkins left prison in July well short of the maximum time he could have spent there. That's renewing questions over prison time and state law.

Sgt. John Wells, with the Omaha Police Officers Association said, "He was definitely one of those people that when he was released from prison, had grave concerns that something like this may happen."

Wells and his partner had taken Jenkins into custody a decade ago for robbery. By the time the case worked it's way through court, Jenkins had been sentenced to 18 years in prison. Under the Good Time law, he was released after serving a little more than 10 years.

"This is a serious situation and it is absolutely nothing to make light of," Wells said. "Our elected leaders in Lincoln have failed us miserably, that they allow somebody this dangerous, and with this type of record out early with his sentence cut in half."

Nebraska State Senator Brad Ashford disagrees. He says the issue is with sentencing choices of the judges. With judges deciding the amount of time served, Ashford said the responsibility must fall to those with the gavel.

"I don't think you can make any policy decision about any policy we have in place until we really hone in on the numbers. Who is really at risk to re-offend?" Ashford said.

There are those who demand stand your ground laws be re-evaluated and ultimately repealed. OK, how about re-evaluating and ultimately repealing the immunity judges and elected officals enjoy from the consequences of there disastrous decisions?

I favor a three-pronged approach. For a first offense, a strong effort at rehabiliation...mental evaluation, mental counseling, etc. Of course, this has to also consider the severity of the offense....some crimes are heinous enough such that it is obvious that rehabilitation is not possible.

For a second offense, HARD TIME (hard enough to make Sheriff Arpaio's jail look like a country club), full sentence, no parole.

Third offense...life in solitary confinement (or execution, if the state has the balls to have execution on the books).

We can’t even effectively deal with evil (whatever the means) if we don’t submit to the King. You in fact did identify some of the King’s possible methods. What needs to be done is also to exalt the King and not us (not Warthog, not RedNeck) in the doing. Note you said that YOU would do thus and such. I’m saying the King wants us to do thus and such. See the difference in points of view?

12
posted on 09/08/2013 11:02:30 AM PDT
by HiTech RedNeck
(The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)

"Note you said that YOU would do thus and such. Im saying the King wants us to do thus and such. See the difference in points of view?"

Go back a re-read my statement. I said "I favor..", not "I would do...". God wants us to exercise compassion to our fellow men. The approach I suggested is more compassionate than the current system, which does virtually zip to actually rehabilitate "youth" offenders and lets them literally get away with pretty much anything up to and including some forms of murder. They reach adulthood as hardened criminals, and THEN we're going to try rehabilitation???

Still, ultimately, it ought to be a “I believe the Lord would want” (even if you or I should differ on the details) to get as close to our understanding of the King as we can. If there is a real King (and I’ve seen way too much in my life to conclude otherwise) then attempts to get focused on His will should, in sufficient time, converge even if approached from different angles. And in fact it does. When we look past the bath water we see the Baby in places we would never expect.

The reason being in part that even penal/corrective systems can’t exist in a vacuum. There is a reason for the term “penitentiary” containing “penitent.” It was an attempt to get gospel principles into what had been mainly viewed as vengeance which operated through sheer fear. However gospel preaching has gotten weak and there’s a lot of Islamic dysvangelism going on in our “penitentiaries.” Islam with its focused “jihad” might for the short term keep people out of what we call worldly trouble but from the best I can analyze the situation it’s basically a nice face on Satan. It’s going to yield a bounteous crop of evil later.

The good Lord leads me to strongly believe that the general answer to evil is the gospel. The familiar Christian salvation story from the bible, that even a child can understand and accept, coupled with earnest effort to mow down the kingdom of Satan once a person is within the sphere of salvation.

14
posted on 09/08/2013 3:27:46 PM PDT
by HiTech RedNeck
(The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)

I.e. why let the Slammies steal the concept of glorifying God like all get out, and spiritual struggle? Maybe it’s time that our good Lord gets that same red carpet treatment??? Because it’s real, it’s going to garner a lot more opposition than Islam will. But it also promises the power to power past the opposition, not without griefs and trials.

So far private gospel preaching hasn’t been excluded from jails yet, though the window is narrowing because now the state has to keep scrupulously “impartial” as if we didn’t need to care which of God or Satan we give the floor to. On the other hand, a “state gospel” is a misrepresentation — churches ought never have gone into that business — so the Lord has acted to purify. Let’s use the purest gospel we can where it matters — in the nests of evil.

15
posted on 09/08/2013 3:52:19 PM PDT
by HiTech RedNeck
(The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)

I now belong to the original, accept-no-substitutes, church founded by Christ (the Roman Catholic one). RC's still very much do prison ministry. I live about twelve miles from one of Washington states women's prison facilities, and folks from my congregation are there on a regular basis.

What these poor mis-led souls need to understand is that no matter how bad they have been, or what they have done, God loves them. He loves them more than society does, and more than they love themselves. Some get the message and turn their lives around.

Hey, if you authentically worship Christ in the Roman Catholic community, that’s sure better than not worshiping at all. I believe I remember a time on FR you were agnostic if not atheistic? If so, this is a great improvement. I’m cheered to hear about it.

However. A caution. The “genuine accept no substitutes” church won’t save and perfect you. That is mere men. Only Christ will save and perfect you. This is a point the good Lord had to make by causing the reformation churches to bud off, using the witness of the founding Christians, a witness more commonly known today as the Bible, as their connection to the body. If you are a believer in Christ (not other people) to effect the salvation of your eternal life, we are in fact in the same body, and the definitive reconciliation will be seen in eternity if not on earth.

God bless you. God bless the baby, but by all means drain the bath water.

17
posted on 09/08/2013 5:17:21 PM PDT
by HiTech RedNeck
(The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)

"Hey, if you authentically worship Christ in the Roman Catholic community, thats sure better than not worshiping at all. I believe I remember a time on FR you were agnostic if not atheistic? If so, this is a great improvement. Im cheered to hear about it."

Not me. Unchurched, yes, atheist/agnostic, no. Cradle Episcopalian, but that church left me when it allowed women in the priesthood.

Unfortunately, history records that the Episcopal church has been at the forefront of the assault on Christianity. First major denomination to accept artificial birth control, early adopters of women "priestesses", and then practicing gays, first as priests, later as bishops.

This is not to say that there are not many good caring Christians in the E-church, but their numbers are dwindling fast.

"This is a point the good Lord had to make by causing the reformation churches to bud off, using the witness of the founding Christians, a witness more commonly known today as the Bible, as their connection to the body.

Can't agree with you there. The whole "sola scriptura" thing is simply ridiculous (and in fact the Bible itself says precisely that in several different ways and places).

I note that what were the major "reformation churches" are very rapidly following the Episcopalians in their circling of the drain, adopting many of the same things the Episcopalians have caved on.

Hey, Warty, I’m not here to stump for fading “mainlines.” They have compromised badly with the world. It’s more like world with a Christianesque patina.

That is not, I aver, your fair reference point for the forte of the evangelical church. For that, check out something more like fundamentalists — for example (but not limited to) most Southern Baptist congregations. Baptists budded off of the Anglican church several centuries ago; they did not care for its worldly ties and felt that the Lord deserved better focus. That was a very wise move on the part of the Baptists looking at where the Anglicans/Episcopalians have gone!

The reason “sola scriptura” has become a sticking point, I believe, is that people are bringing their preconceptions to what that means. I’d believe it more accurately that it means scripture AND Spirit. Now it ought to be obvious that if there is a Holy Spirit at all, that is going to be the same Holy Spirit anywhere in creation. If people still come off with varying readings after making their best effort to get the Spirit’s illumination on the bible, then it is the people’s fault, not the Spirit’s fault. However another salient point is that earthly perfection is not needed for earthly effectiveness. Salvation promises the endpoint and it says something about what the transition will be like. It never promises earthly perfection.

19
posted on 09/08/2013 8:17:52 PM PDT
by HiTech RedNeck
(The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)

"For that, check out something more like fundamentalists  for example (but not limited to) most Southern Baptist congregations. Baptists budded off of the Anglican church several centuries ago; they did not care for its worldly ties and felt that the Lord deserved better focus. That was a very wise move on the part of the Baptists looking at where the Anglicans/Episcopalians have gone!"

Indeed, Southern Baptists and some fundamentalist/evangelical groups are "standing up" better than many others, due to their stricter adherence to the Word of God. But so are us RC's and others who are adhering to Rome (including Anglican Rite former Episcopalians). But a trend you may not be aware of is that many evangelicals/fundamentalists are looking closer at the RC church and RC teachings, and finding them not unreasonable. Point of fact is that it was an ex-evangelical who turned me Catholic.

"The reason sola scriptura has become a sticking point, I believe, is that people are bringing their preconceptions to what that means. Id believe it more accurately that it means scripture AND Spirit."

To an RC (and especially to me), the reason "sola scriptura" is a false paradigm is that the Bible is not the only place where the Word of God can be found. Indeed, the Bible IS (part of) the divinely inspired Word of God.... But so are the heavens above your head and the earth beneath your feet, directly written (as Ben Franklin put it) by the Author Himself, and which, by dint of much effort, we have managed to read a word or three. As a scientist, I have to go with the group that accepts that. If there appears to be a contradiction between the Bible and Nature, then our understanding of one or the other is wrong.

"Now it ought to be obvious that if there is a Holy Spirit at all, that is going to be the same Holy Spirit anywhere in creation. If people still come off with varying readings after making their best effort to get the Spirits illumination on the bible, then it is the peoples fault, not the Spirits fault."

Precisely. And the RC church goes one step further, and includes ALL the Word of God, not just that found between the covers of the "Good Book". All that is true is "of God".

"However another salient point is that earthly perfection is not needed for earthly effectiveness."

I'd say your average "active" Catholic has a better awareness of that than many. I know I'm in the line for Confession/Reconciliation WAY more than I want to be.

"Salvation promises the endpoint and it says something about what the transition will be like. It never promises earthly perfection."

But Christ requires us to TRY to attain earthly perfection. Some (very few) make it (the RC calls those "saints"). The rest of us will need Purgatory.

I can’t blame you really all that much for your new enthusiasm. The Episcopalians grieve the Holy Spirit worse today. However your church has mixed the gospel with club spirit and I don’t mean something from a bottle. They are acting towards their evangelical and Orthodox brethren like the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son. They can barely bring themselves to say of the others “this son of yours” let alone brethren.

Here’s a clue: don’t wait up to a week and stand in line to confess. Just pray up the Lord and DO it.

21
posted on 09/09/2013 7:01:25 PM PDT
by HiTech RedNeck
(The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)

And ultimately... my earnest suggestion to you, Wonder... look for where the fruit of the Spirit is. This fruit can’t be faked. Don’t go where the sour, bitter men and women are, who love to torture themselves and call it virtue, who are proud of how much of whatever earthly artifacts they have. Go where the joyful exaltation of the Lord in the congregation is, and where people tell of repeated overcoming in the midst of trials, and giving away a gospel that sells itself, with joy and charity that has no explanation other than the Holy Spirit.

22
posted on 09/09/2013 7:13:31 PM PDT
by HiTech RedNeck
(The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)

P.P.S. “Becoming perfect” means taking on more and more of the perfect Christ.

I don’t know about the theology that says some can be absolutely perfected on earth... certainly that energetic apostle Paul made no claim to it and set himself boldly forth as an example.

Nobody would be able to know all his or her sins on earth, which is the knowledge that would be needed to become perfect. The Roman Catholic organization, the same one that diluted itself over and over by becoming entangled in earthly government (losing the gospel that sold itself and gaining a caricature of that which had to be enforced via earthly terror) have taken the needful reconciliation with the Lord in heaven with a full view of what finally must be reconciled, and built it into a formal, dreaded purgatory. We would not want to dread being in such a place inasmuch as it exists, any more than we would dread the rest of our earthly life; we would welcome it because the Lord would be right there. It would be the final stage of overcoming with the joy that is promised. However Roman Catholics get a long face over purgatory. Does not compute to me.

23
posted on 09/09/2013 7:20:45 PM PDT
by HiTech RedNeck
(The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)

I guess I will make this a quadrilogy and then that’s it. Men are standing between the Holy Spirit and you in a lot of places, and want you to know they and their organization deign to give it to you. In a few, however, men will pass on the Holy Spirit to you absolutely free. That is the place to go and that is the gospel to share. It’s the gospel that sells itself. And it’s worth the risk of making people annoyed to pass it on because once it dawns on them what you are passing on, they become quite grateful! And I wish to see this gospel shared with you, I don’t care who does it, whether it is me or somebody I will never meet.

24
posted on 09/09/2013 7:33:37 PM PDT
by HiTech RedNeck
(The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)

Believe me, I once thought many of the things you think are true of the RC church. And I researched these issues THOROUGHLY before deciding to swim the Tiber. You are fighting a chimera, not the Catholic church. None of the things you believe about the Church are correct.

But I'm not going to hijack the thread any more than I already have. If you want to discuss further, there is Freepmail.

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.